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Abstract

We present diagrams that show how layers in atmospheric thermal
structure are related to the altitudes at which they are seen
tangentially. These dip diagrams show that the inferior mirage
greatly magnifies the apparent angular size of the lowest few
centimeters of atmosphere. Conversely, inversion layers below eye
level are compressed—even to zero apparent thickness, in
ducts. The diagrams show that, even when distant objects are
miraged, the ray crossings occur beyond the lowest point on each ray
where the line of sight is tangent to a horizontal surface in the
atmosphere. Therefore the apparent altitudes of these tangent
points are a monotonic function of their actual heights in the
atmosphere. This monotonicity explains an apparent paradox in
low-Sun images.

References

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